Though I am not quite sure where I first learned it, I recall from my youth that both food and clothing were basic human rights and should never be withheld from someone in need. In other words, food and clothing should never be used as “weapons.” What I always understood this to mean is that, as a basic human right, these should never be used to influence or coerce a behavior or opinion. It always seemed odd to me that shelter was not regularly discussed as one of these basic human rights. As I grew older, and began a career in community development and social services, I found that this was exactly the case - that while food and clothing were basic rights, housing was something that people often had to work for, or in a sense, become “worthy” to have.
There is a model that was common about 10 years ago and remains at the core of social services in many communities today. It begins with meeting someone who is living outside, on the street, or in some place not designed for someone to live. This person is invited into an emergency shelter where their immediate needs (food, medical care, clothing) are assessed and they are provided with all of these basic needs for the immediate time being. After a few days or weeks, services begin to focus on long-term stability and tackling the barriers that keep this person from being self-sufficient, including medical issues, addiction, mental health, and/or employment (or under-employment).
As these services are offered, this individual might move into housing that is not an emergency shelter, but into other temporary or transitional shelters. The housing location might change two or more times as this person becomes ever more prepared to move in to a place that they can call their own, whether that be an apartment or small home.
At any point during this process, however, housing can be revoked for behavioral issues associated with a mental illness and/or relapse of an addiction and the person will find themselves back at the bottom of the ladder. In this way, many find themselves caught in a continuous loop until they are finally able to overcome all of the barriers that face them. In this model, housing is not a right, but instead used as an incentive, and often as a weapon that can be held against an individual and lost at any vulnerable moment.
About 9 years ago I moved to Asheville, NC, and began working for a small non-profit that sought out to seek out the core barriers, and develop workable solutions, to someone having sustainable housing. During my time at Homeward Bound of Asheville, Inc., I became more familiar with a model called “Housing First/Housing Plus”, a services model that many communities are adopting. In this model, housing is not used as a “weapon” but instead recognizes it as the first and most important facet to someone obtaining stability and self-sufficiency. It recognizes that as long as the individual does not have a permanent address and a consistent and safe place to keep their medicines, important belongings (including photo identification, paperwork, clothes, etc.) they remain in a suspended state and are much more likely to re-lapse or fall back into the old habits or behaviors that first resulted in homelessness.
In this model, a person is moved directly into stable permanent housing after their immediate needs have been met. Once in housing (subsidized by public funds or grants), a care team designed to meet the specific needs of that individual is put together and services are provided to them in that housing unit. The team visits on a regular basis and serves that person in their home, where they have a bed, a closet, a medicine cabinet, and a safe location to keep items. They never go to bed at night wondering how long it will be theirs, and if a relapse or behavior issue arises, the housing is not taken away from them. Instead, the care plan put forth by the team adjusts to better suit their needs.
Many communities have noted drastic decreases in the number of people seeking emergency room visits and being arrested by local police once participating in a Housing First; and the costs saved by reduced emergency and law enforcement expenses often outweigh the costs associated with publicly subsidized housing. It is my hope that many more cities will begin to investigate the possibility of serving their communities with this type of program, and begin to recognize housing as a basic human right, and not something that a person has to show worthiness in order to attain.
By Missing Petal Contributor Kenneth Kidd
